


Flatline

by autobotscoutriella



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Grief, Pre-Canon, if one considers Cybertron a character that is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:42:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23919913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autobotscoutriella/pseuds/autobotscoutriella
Summary: Cybertron died with a flicker, not a bang.Prequel toConnection.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16
Collections: FandomWeekly (2019-2020) Writing Challenge on Dreamwidth





	Flatline

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for [FandomWeekly](https://fandomweekly.dreamwidth.org/320976.html) prompt "Blaze of Glory".

Cybertron died with a flicker, not a bang.

The planet's decline had been all but imperceptible at first, visible only in the decrease in viable energon veins and the lack of any new sparks being produced either through hotspots or the AllSpark—and those could easily be mistaken for surface-level damage from the war, not signs of something deeper and more sinister. The war left as many scars in the planet's surface as it did in its inhabitants, but scars didn't have to be fatal, and no one had ever truly believed that the planet itself would die. After all, their world had existed for billions of years. It was a fixture of the universe.

Cybertron had its own presence, something not quite sentient but not _not_ sentient either, and it had been a constant background murmur in Soundwave's processor since the day he had been sparked. The few times he had thought about it, he had assumed it was a residual link to the AllSpark, or perhaps to Vector Sigma at the planet's core. He had sometimes thought that it was the only thing a non-telepath might be able to sense, but had never asked—it wasn't something one _spoke_ of.

It was unobtrusive, little more than a background hum that never wavered, dimmed, or strengthened. It was as much a part of his world as the atmosphere around him, there if he cared to examine it but never drawing attention to itself. He had never realized how reassuring it was until the first day dawned after the AllSpark had been cast into space, and for the first time in his memory, Cybertron's presence flickered and faded into nothing.

In that moment, it had become clear that the AllSpark had been keeping Cybertron on life support, and its loss had only finalized something that had been in progress for a long, long time. The flicker had been faint, a dying gasp rather than a sudden shot to the spark.

As he studied the hologram of what had once been a living, thriving planet, Soundwave thought that Cybertron had deserved better. Someone should have noticed the moment its fate was sealed, long before its actual death. _He_ should have noticed. What good was being a telepath if he couldn't notice a planet dying right in front of him?

Perhaps all the death of the war had dented his abilities. But still...

It was _Cybertron_. It was home. It should have gone out like a supernova, like a thousand stars all exploding at once, like the AllSpark itself being ripped out of the universe, leaving a gaping wound in reality itself. Too many Cybertronians had spilled their energon on its surface; its death should have been a million times more brutal, more obvious. Cybertron's end should have been the ultimate proverbial blaze of glory.

Instead, it had crumbled, like a rusted flake of metal.

No one wanted to die like that, but it felt uniquely wrong for Cybertron itself to meet that fate.

Soundwave turned away from the hologram, unable to look at it any longer. Cybertron's story was not finished, he told himself. Their departure was not the endgame, and never had been. Megatron would recover the AllSpark, or if he died in the attempt, the Decepticons would recover it in his stead. Cybertron would live again, restored by the greatest power known to the universe. The Autobots might have been willing to sacrifice Cybertron to keep a Decepticon victory out of reach, but it would be a temporary setback.

Nevertheless, it was difficult to shake the feeling of guilt.

They had all failed Cybertron. The prolonged war had killed it, and had it ended sooner, it might have survived.

Soundwave could not have ended it alone. That was a fact that he had accepted a long time ago. But he could have noticed when it began, and that—

That was _his_ failure. He alone could have sensed the change, and he had not.

Cybertron had deserved more.


End file.
